Staff are normally expected to work until their final day of employment. If, exceptionally, there is no work for your employees to do, they would generally be entitled to payment in lieu of notice (known as PILON).
Notice periods will vary according to the individual terms and conditions of the employment contract of each of your staff, and their length of service.
Employees are entitled to the greater of their contractual and statutory notice period entitlement.
The length of service taken into account when calculating a statutory notice period is capped at 12 years.
So, if a staff member has been employed for less than one month, they will not be entitled to a statutory notice period.
If a staff member has been employed for one month to two years, they are entitled to a minimum of one week’s notice.
If a staff member has been employed for two years to 12 years, they are entitled to a minimum of two weeks’ notice plus an extra week for each additional year of continuous employment, up to a maximum of 12 weeks.
If a staff member has been employed for 12 years or more, they are entitled to a minimum of 12 weeks’ notice.
If a staff member’s contractual notice period is more than above, their contractual notice period applies.
Although it is up to you as the employer to decide at the point at which to give your staff notice of redundancy, IPSA expects you will do so at a point that allows you to wind up your affairs effectively, and also minimise the cost to the taxpayer of PILON.
It is expected that you would give your staff members notice of redundancy as soon as practically possible if they are not required to work during the winding-up period.
Please do not delay notice of redundancy in situations where your staff are genuinely not required.
During the 2019 General Election, approximately 78.6% of PILON payments may have been avoidable due to the late issuance of notice to staff members.
The full report can be found in the report Audit, Risk & Assurance: 2019 General Election.
At the next General Election, IPSA will not fund PILON costs for staff members where the notice period falls outside of the winding-up period.
This is because the winding-up period will be increased to four months and all staff members will be able to work out their notice period in that time if required.
PILON may still be claimable for staff members who are not required to work during the winding-up period.
If serving notice is delayed and PILON costs are incurred beyond the end of the four-month winding-up period, as the employer MPs are personally liable for such costs and they cannot be claimed from IPSA.
PILON costs as a result of the election and payable within the four-month winding-up period will automatically come from the Contingency Budget. If the staff member is off on long-term sick, the PILON is paid at their full pay rate and will come from the Absence Budget.
For more information, visit Leaving office & employment.